Chris Dailey Gets Specific About Heather Buck

Chris Dailey, UConn's veteran associate head coach, wants sophomore Heather Buck to be the best she can be, for both personal and professional reasons.

She helped recruit her and knows how important Buck's play will be this season if the Huskies are to win the a third championship.

But CD was also realistic Monday when assessing what she has seen from the former Connecticut state player of the year.

"There is an inconsistency that I can't figure out," Dailey said. "She has had a great opportunity to get things done in games that we needed her, like at Notre Dame. We needed her to rebound the basketball because single-handedly Devereaux Peters [the Notre Dame senior] was kicking our butt off the boards.

"Heather had a chance to try and help us [two minutes in the first half]. She's getting the chances, she just hasn't taken advantage of them. There has been inconsistency in practice and inconsistency in games."

Dailey said it was clear to the coaching staff that Buck was not getting it done at Notre Dame.

"You can pretty much tell what's going on, even in a little block of time [2 minutes]," Dailey said. "We watched the game and we knew, but after we watched the film, it was just as glaring to us."Her problems must be multiple, It's a mindset; sometimes I think it's effort in just trying to do what we ask her to do. And it's her personality.

"But I am not giving up, although we've tried a lot of different ways to get through; getting on her, not getting on her, being positive, giving her extra work. But if there is no consistent carryover, then you come to the belief nothing has changed and you are back to square one. We take a step or two forward and then we move back and I don't have the answer to that."

Buck played well in UConn's win at Pacific on Dec. 28 and the staff thought she might be headed in the right direction.

"She played very well against Pacific and I was hoping she could build on that," Dailey said. "But that wasn't the case. We had a need against Stanford, like we did against Notre Dame; an aggressive, big body to try and compete with them. I mean, she wasn't the only one [who struggled at Stanford], but she has also been here the longest.

"She's had more of a chance to prove herself, but she hasn't done it consistently, so we throw others in there who have a reason [to be inconsistent] because they are freshmen."

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5 Comments

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So if Heather Buck continues to disappoint Coach Auriemma and Coach Daly - will they insist that she transfer at the end of the season - to free up a scholarship?
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WCBB is slowly trending towards taller talented players. UConn has to figure out a way to keep up with teams that have several talented players at least 6' 2".
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Samarie Walker seems exactly the same height as Maya Moore. Walker is very short for a center or power forward who has no outside shot.
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Chris Dailey, Geno: if you watch the Notre Dame and the Stanford game you will see your problem is bigger than Heather Buck. Your team does not have the concept of blocking out under the basket. No one picks a body to push back on. A 5ft 4 inch player can push a 6 5 around with her legs and on her back.
Heather Buck at times looks like a lost puppy running from under the basket to the top of the key and points east and west. This is a teaching and training problem.

Make it abundantly clear to her that she plays within 5 feet of the basket and when some one shoots pick some one to push around and look at the ball coming down.
She will do what you want, but you must make sure she understands what you want of her. This is your problem, communications.

Buck will graduate from UConn. That's what Geno guarantees his players, and he hasn't violated that.

Heather Buck must get the mindset, "It's MY ball! You CAN'T have it!" She must keep this mindset every moment she's on the court. Tina Charles had it her junior and senior years, and became dominant under the boards.

Do you really think that the UConn coaches DO NOT teach these girls how to block out and rebound? They have consistently been one of the best "team defenders" in the nation for a decade now. They rebound, pressure the ball, help off the ball, take charges, understand defensive principles...everything they need to do to be a dominating defense.

And let me make this clear, I am NOT a UConn Women's Basketball Fan. I am a Tennessee fan. But to place blame on Geno or Chris Daily because Heather Buck looks lost, saying it is a "teaching" problem seems a stretch to me. As the old saying goes, "when the student is ready, the teacher appears."